Eco-Friendly Renovations Part 3 – Arden Road
This is the third in a series of articles about green building and renovating in Mount Washington. The articles were all written by Polly Bart, a PhD who has been working as a builder for more than 20 years. Polly founded Greenbuilders, Inc. in 2004. The company mission is to help change the construction industry to better preserve and restore the environment. Greenbuilders accomplishes this through “green” home renovations and additions, and through consulting on commercial projects. Each story will focus on a different project in Mount Washington; as each home and family in Mount Washington is different, so are the green choices and impacts of each of the projects. – SK
Green Roof
Don Mathis and Audrey Guzik were happily settled in Mt. Washington. Kids, friends, school, trips to work … it all fit. Like other Mt. Washington families, however, a house that was perfect for a couple and a baby began to seem small when their first-born became an older sister. For this particular family, lack of good outdoor play space was also an issue. The whole family is fascinated by the natural world; daughter Elena was intrigued by the promise of planting a meadow. This wasn’t going to work in their small back yard. Yet every member of the family loved Mt. Washington.
The solution? Move up and out – two doors down to a larger house with a double lot. Plenty of room for outdoor activities.
Once again architect Julie Gabrielli came to the rescue with a plan to convert the new house to suit the family’s needs. When Greenbuilders got involved, the plan acquired some living green features that reflected the family’s interests in plants. Everyone agreed that the top of the addition proposed by Gabrielli would be perfect for a green roof. The kids’ play area in the finished attic looked out on the roof, and plants would poke their heads over the parapet wall on top so that they would be visible from the big yard (and to passersby in the alley as well).
Kids' Playroom
Other green features became part of the plan. Original floors of beautiful heart pine were salvaged and, where necessary, a new floor of Lyptus – a naturally occurring eucalyptus hybrid – in a beautiful reddish tone was chosen. These trees grow back very rapidly, which is a plus for people conscious about resource use. Bathroom floors were made of Marmoleum, a linseed and jute product that is very good looking, is reasonably priced, and is completely nontoxic. An operable skylight in the girls’ bath had a mirror installed below it so blue sky or clouds can be seen from the room, while allowing warm humid air to escape naturally.
Skylight From the Inside
Energy was a concern to the family as well. The house had radiators and a boiler in good condition. As those of you who have radiators know, it is a wonderful heat — warm and not drying. However, radiators take up wall space, and the system must be kept clear of debris and air in the pipes. We cleaned and maintained the system and bought a new radiator or two in custom sizes to fit with the family’s need for wall space. Audrey and Don chose a handsome Quadrifire fireplace insert with a blower that is located so that most of the house is kept warm without needing to use the boiler during the majority of the year.
Cost was a factor – when is it not? In order to carry out an ambitious plan including a second story addition and work in most of the rest of the house, it was necessary for the family to find some areas they could love as-is. Part of working green is to conserve – to not change what does not have to be changed. It can also be about learning to love some of what you already have.
For this project, everyone agreed that while a new kitchen would be nice, what was there was perfectly acceptable. This allowed the entire east side of the first floor to be untouched except for painting. This adjustment brought the project cost into line with the proposed budget: a very important step in the planning process!
Green Roof
There were several benefits to this green project that were not apparent immediately. First, the green roof turned out to be the first of a series of small residential green roofs done in Mt. Washington and elsewhere by Greenbuilders. In each case, the achievement of the homeowners was to “do no harm” with respect to storm water, or even to decrease runoff by adding vegetated surface.
Second, the family found that living in the house with the changes made in the radiator system and the wood-burning insert was even more comfortable and economical than they had hoped. They were very satisfied with their choices.
Finally, the family allowed Greenbuilders to keep some of the old floor that had to be removed. The following year, Greenbuilders discovered that this floor was a perfect match for a damaged section of old cherry flooring in a kitchen renovation in Roland Park. So the Mathis-Guzik floorboards were carefully refinished and now gleam a few blocks away in the Fleischer-Jacobsen kitchen. Greenbuilders gives parties; We are looking forward to introducing these two families whose concern for resource conservation and historical beauty gives them something quite unusual in common.
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